Younes Bounhar Photography

Learning

I have been thinking of writing this post for about a week now, but struggled with finding a proper way to introduce it. Until now that is. It turns out that David Duchemin just happpened to provide the perfect segway for what I am about to say in his latest blog post. David discusses some misconceptions surrounding the concept of “professional” photographer and insists on the importance of learning in the creative process. It really doesn’t matter if you are a pro or amateur, the minute you stop learning and pushing yourself further, you might as well quit. I have to say I couldn’t agree more. I was in fact reminded of this fact no later than last week as I was teaching a private workshop on architectural photography. It is quite fascinating in fact to be in a situation where people come to you for instruction and teaching, but if you play it right you can end up learning as much out of it yourself. While you are teaching you actually take a step back and get a much needed refresher on the basics. In addition, as you are looking for elements to illustrate the principles you teach you get even more perspective. If that wasn’t enough, this amazing thing happens when you have several people looking at the same subject: subjectivity. It is amazing how many times you pick a location, put 5-6 photographers in there and come out with as many interpretations as there are people around!

So here I am on my workshop, teaching that you don’t always have to trust or even care about your metering. You can choose to under or overexpose subjects just because. So with that in mind, we are on location and I am out and about giving tips and tricks to my participants, completely oblivious to my own teachings, when one of them surprises me with an image of this location which I had never envisaged, but which stems directly of that very element I was teaching. So it is without shame that I admit that the following image was completely inspired by Hagen, whose pictures you will see in my next post.

This is the image I would have shot otherwise:

Posted on March 9th, 2010 in Random thoughts | 5 Comments »

Satisfaction…

While Mick Jagger clearly has trouble getting any (satisfaction, that is), I have to say, my last few customer service experiences have made a believer! We always hear about the horror stories but very rarely about when things go well, or even better than expected. Here I want to just take a little time to highlight two of the great customer service experiences I have had of late.

Now, I want to put a disclaimer out there before I start. These accounts are unsolicited and only recount my own experience. I am getting no compensation or endorsement from either manufacturer quoted below.

No later than yesterday, I responded to a tweet from @thinkTANKphoto and told them how I absolutely loved their Shape Shifter bag (reviewed here and here, and which you can buy here). Then in a private conversation with them, I mentioned how my hip belt had fallen off some time ago and that I wanted to purchase one. In no time, my query was transferred to a thinkTank Photo product specialist who asked a couple of questions and immediately shipped me a full hip belt replacement free of charge. No questions asked. What more can I ask for? So kudos to Simon and Chris at thinkTank photo!

Now, let’s jump a few weeks back. My fairly new Acratech ballhead clamp seemed to be loosening up from time to time, but I didn’t do much about it. That is until my camera fell off and hit the ground and water! Very unhappy Younes! Now this is a ballhead I only ever heard great things about. It’s beautifully built, extra light, solid as a rock and extremely precise. I mentioned my unfortunate accident to a photographer friend of mine who insisted I contact Acratech as they are also well known for their excellent customer service. So I did. And all I can say is: WOW. I wrote my email on Sunday evening, by Monday I had a response from Acratech. They offered to replace my ballhead immediately, no questions asked. Now, how can I work without a ballhead until my new ballhead arrives, you ask? Well, I asked the same. Don’t you worry I was told. Hold on to your current ballhead. Wait until you receive the new one, then you can send us the old one. Again, no questions asked. Before I knew it, my brand spanking new ballhead was on board, and this time works just like advertised. Absolutely brilliant piece of machinery that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone (more info on Acratech can be found here). Again, a big thank you to the Acratech team for their terrific service.

Anyone out there with similar experiences?

Posted on February 24th, 2010 in Random thoughts | 6 Comments »

Water etching

This past week-end I undertook the very pleasant task of catching up on keywording and updating the metadata on my image bank…boy was I off the mark. I knew I was lagging behind, but only a few months…somehow though it turned out that I had lost the keywording on almost 6000 pictures, yes your read it SIX THOUSAND…AAAAARGHHH. So, you’ve guessed, it’s been a highly entertaining week-end on that front.

On the plus side, the exercise allowed me to clean up my archives, catch up on some post-processing, but most pleasantly to uncover some forgotten or unknown keepers. It was not all futile. This particular shot was taken on the edge of the frozen Ottawa river at the end of last winter. It’s a macro shot that represents and area about 2-3 inches long. KIDS: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. A few minutes after taking this shot I found myself at the bottom of the river, gasping for air and trying desperately to save my gear, and mostly myself…

Posted on November 15th, 2009 in Images Random thoughts | 7 Comments »

Emerging from the Abyss

Yes, I am still alive, yes, barely…I am just out of my hole briefly to let you know I am (sort of) still among you.

Most people hate November, cuz, well it sucks, but also, cuz all the colours have left, the trees look like crap and …it’s friggin’ cold. While I could hardly argue against this sort of feelings, I have to say that the more I look at it the more I see new opportunities during this dreaded month. Last week I probably saw the two best sunsets of the year, and missed both (if you don’t believe me, check it out for yourselves: #1 here; #2, here). But I also have tons of ideas on more intimate compositions that this month’s weather and look suits perfectly, now if I only could go out and do that…hopefully soon, may be this week-end if my buddy Justin is onboard (I know he always is).

In the meantime here is a shot I took last week-end. It is not a composite or a multiple exposure. This is the shot as I took it. I was waiting for sunset only to realise that the full moon was rising behind me. Nikon D700, 70-300VR at 200mm, ISO320, f/13 and 1/20s.

Posted on November 4th, 2009 in Images Random thoughts | 3 Comments »

Hangin’ tough

Well, I came back, battered and bruised, literally. My long week-end had a lot of good and a healthy dose of bad.

First, the good…Four days off work. Met with Photolife editor-in-chief about future plans for the magazine and me as a regular contributor, shared ideas, had a few laughs. Drove 700 clicks, landed in one of the most beautiful areas this side of the Rockies: the Charlevoix mountains. The sight was one to behold. The air was clean, the water abundant. Saw more wildlife in a morning than all year around Ottawa. Great horned owl. Porcupine. Black bear…can’t even remember the rest. Hiked-up one tough trail that overlooks the whole area. The view…no words to describe it.

Then it all came down crumbling. Was it the solitude? the isolation? The fatigue? All I wanted was to be home right then, not in an hour, not in a day. What was I doing? What’s this photography thing all about anyway? Who am I fooling? Is my photography worth anything? Am I on the right track? Is there a track? Needless to say, I had more questions than there were answers (actually no answers at all). I hiked back down to the campsite, sort of slept, got up in time for sunrise…no sunrise, just drab clouds, yet again. Folded my tent. Headed back home, dazed and confused.

I just got home this afternoon, questions still going around my head. I sat down at my computer, did the usual time wasting. I then remembered a post I read a while back that pointed to this video, by Zach Arias (you can see more here http://www.zarias.com/?p=284). I had meant to see it, but never did. I guess sometimes life has its reasons. It was just what I needed. Sorry for all the moody post, I needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

Posted on May 19th, 2009 in Random thoughts rant | 7 Comments »

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